Hi, I’m looking for advice on bushings for a build because I’ve always been a bit lazy or unmethodical about the choice
This is the setup
Deck: Jet Potato (33" long, 9.6" wide, 22.5" wheelbase, topmount)
Trucks: BN 145mm with extended axles, BN adjustable baseplate likely at 50° front and rear
Wheels: Blue caguamas 77A
Whatever risers necessary to avoid wheelbite, I think 15-25mm
Weight: 105-110kg with gear
I don’t ride above 35km/h, with most casual riding between 15-25. Split fairly evenly between medium quality cycle lanes to get around the city and carving on nice paths for fun. I think a springy or reactive setup would be good, I don’t mind having to stabilise myself and get a bit disinterested going in a straight line too much. I have a setup with 184mm calibers, a 5mm riser, and caguamas running cone/barrell in what I think is Krank green (I bought the whole assembly used so not 100% sure) that feels fun and close to what I’d like but a little stiff and a little short on lean
Does barrel/cone Krank and slightly lower Duro make sense for this, or how would extra riser and slightly narrower trucks factor in? I read the riptide page about pivot cups but I don’t think I fully understand what more feedback means in that context
Hello @RipTideSports!!! So I currently ride both a Backfire G2 Black and G3, but am eventually going to build my own DIY board! From what I know, the bushings on those are like bright red, each has a cone on top, and the bottoms are either barrel or chubby maybe I would guess. I am comfortable on them, but for my DIY board I want to customize the feeling more to me and what I want. Here is the information you asked for:
For my trucks I will be using, 220mm Precision Hangers + Idler Motor Mounts Kit, and those along with, Split Angle Precision Baseplates, both are my boardnamics… Hangers: Length-220mm, Axle-8mm Fixed Axle, Axle Length-50mm (10mm length threads)… Baseplates: 1x 48° Baseplate, 1x 33° Baseplate, 4x Cup Washer, 2x Kingpin Nut; and - The baseplates come with Riptide Sports Paris V2 pivot cups and grade 8 kingpins… From what I know, they do not come with bushings which is what I am looking for help with.
I am not sure about my bushings I am/will be using yet. I have thoughts about what might work, but am struggling to understand the concept of: bushings, different formulas, the importance of shapes, and the toughness… all I understand right now are some combinations of how they might feel from your website, what others have told me, and from setups already done for certain feelings and all. I also know for this being an electric esk8, I think I need 0.6 size if I am not mistaken.
Currently, my trucks are not too loose, but also not too light. When I build my board, I will want them with a similar feeling. It is just enough to where if I go slow and bend/angle myself enough I can make a U-turn on any 2-lane road and can make any turn comfortably and not go into the wrong side of the road, but is stable enough so I can ride comfortably at 20-26mph while standing upright with no wobbles. I guess the short answer for when I build my board would be like: keep the looseness from my current board for how it’ll turn, but maybe a little more stable just to be safe so no speed wobbles. I am not 100% sure as to what exactly you mean when you mention rebound, sorry.
Majority of the time, I will be doing distance cruising. I have my college’s campus I typically ride and average 11-13miles for my rides, but for my DIY board I am aiming for a 30mile range where I can cruise my campus and ride and enjoy all of it. The roads range from being brand new and smooth, to not as new/maybe older but still smooth, to being like cobblestone and really bumpy, to being completely torn up and is just gravel due to not paving it yet. And also at times, like if a car is behind me I may switch into a faster mode so a feeling of where I won’t feel as if the trucks/bushings would make it go crazy under my feet and send me flying if I try to go fast quickly.
I am not 100% sure on the deck, but atm I am leaning towards: Eovan Electric Skateboard GTS Carbon Fiber Deck… it has a built in battery and esc compartment that will be nice for me, and it is carbon fiber so it will be very stable and sturdy. I am not fully sure since I worry the material will be too tough and make riding hurt my feet though. As for how it’ll wheel bite, I do not know what this is, sorry.
For how much I weigh, right now I am around 171lbs. I am kind of fluctuating between 170-173lbs at the moment, but I am trying to stay/make it constant around this weight.
I am not sure whether mine is setup to notify me for responses, but I will check this a lot as I am on a break for my school until Monday and have plenty of time to talk! I am sorry if I have said way too much or did not provide adequate information. I am just jumping into this side of esk8 regarding knowing and learning specifics about every type of piece/part so I am always worrying to say the wrong thing. If you need to know any other information I did not say/mention or need any links, I am happy to send them/attach them here. Thank you in advance for any help you could give to me!
Are you sure you want to have the board set up symmetrically? Split setups are much more practical unless you like to ride the board backwards also. A 50/40 split works great and you don’t lose agility but you do gain stability. The Cone / Barrel up front works great but I would suggest a Barre / Barrel rear to compensate for the split in base plate angles. Your weight will require you to go fairly hard so KranK 96a will likely be the way to go. If you are willing to go bigger shapes, you can go softer for a more plush setup like a Barrel / Barrel front and a Barrel / FatCone or Chubby rear in KranK 93a. As for the pivots, just stick with the 96a, it is the best for all applications.
Thanks a mill for that! Unfortunately I ordered bushings yesterday but if they don’t work out they’ll get used on something else, I went with KranK 90A cone and chubby because the bushing seat should accept it. And 96A pivot cups
On split angles: yeah I changed the back truck to 40° and went for a test ride. I think the lean to turn ratio is good, the bushings I set it up with were a bit stiff but that’ll be fixed soon. If I need some finer angle adjustment I already have thick solid risers so I’ll sand them to a slight wedge or dewedge. I have some APS barrels in 95A that I can swap in if speed stability becomes a problem
Hey I’m looking to buy some of your bushings and hoping you could recommend me some. Here’s the info for you:
BN270 Precision Hangers (270 mm), MBoards 50 degree angle baseplate (front and back). Cone barrel set up (front and back)
Not aftermarket
Trucks feel mushy and relatively soft. I tightened the back one up a lot to help with stability (before I read how bushings worked) and its basically ruined now. I am a 200 lb 6’5 rider so I want to be able to turn pretty hard if I lean with enough force but I also want them to be able to be bouncy enough to return back to neutral position. So i’d like stability with high rebound I guess, but to be able to carve hard if I lean my weight into them.
Cruising, maneuverable through sidewalks and bike lanes/trails. My board has the capacity to go about 35mph but I usually keep it around 20-28mph.
Arbor Dropcruiser Flagship ( L: 38.00" | W: 9.75" | WB: 29.25") with 155mm pneumatic wheels. Haven’t tried the 155mm wheels yet, just 110mm ones so I don’t really know what the wheel bite situation will be. But I assume I have a good amount of room with the 270mm hangars.
The first thing I recommend for safely running at those speeds as change your rear base plate angles to something like 30 degrees or less. Are you able to do that?
OK, 50/33 split 200lbs I would suggest a KranK 93a Barrel / FatCone front and a KranK 93a Barrel / Chubby back. Order a pair of KranK 93a Cones also for an optional loose set up of a KranK 93a Cone / FatCone front and a KranK 93a Cone / Chubby back. There are also several options you can try with three pairs of bushings to work with.
I had my board set up perfect with Single drive, Caliber II 184mm 44 deg trucks with Venom 90A barrel bushings and 85mm Caguamas 80A. My deck is a 34 inch old school shape with a kicktail and 22 inch wheel base, with 1/2" risers I had no wheel bite. I could carve really nice and stability was insane with the back truck pretty loose. No speed wobble to speak of and would go 42km/h max but mostly around 25-30km/h. I weigh 85kg = 188 pounds.
Because I wanted dual drive (mostly for hill climbing and better brakes) and bigger softer wheels (shitty roads), I changed a lot on the board.
The deck and the 44 deg baseplates stayed the same. I added some angled risers (8-14mm). wedged/dewedged
I swapped in 218mm TB hangers and added another 6374 motor so there is a lot more weight on the back truck. I also had to reverse the motor mounts (don’t know it this has an effect). At the moment I’m running worn down MEEPO CYCLONE 110S 68A (around 100mm)
I like the turning radius. It is actually smaller than before. But I now have insane speed wobble. I did tighten the back truck significantly and turned on traction control in the vesc, which does help a bit. I’m sure I could do the rest with bushing!
I would like an opinion. I have the boardnamics adjustable baseplate rkp and 270 hangars coming. I bought all barrels, two 87 two 90 and two 93s. I have cupped and flat washers. The board is a hummie. I dont go faster than thirty. I am 200lbs. Wheels are 6.5 wide meepo cyclones. Gear drives. I want it carvy mostly for commute turns.
Could you give me the best angles for baseplate, and the best combo of bushing, washers? Turns of the kingpin nuts?
Start with 93 in back, 90 up front. 50 degree front, 35 degree rear. Don’t use cup bushings - only use the washers. start with the least amount of pressure on bushings, like 1/4 turn past snug. Adjust from there. It’s all personal preference but that’s a good starting place.
Nothing new there. Delrin has been used as pivots since Delrin was developed. Downsides are they are harsh and do not give so to get the hanger into the pivot over the tall king pin, they need to be shallow or you need to pull the kingpin to insert the pivot nose into the pivot cup if your pivot nose has a cylindrical segment. Delrin will deform over time and not return to it’s original shape so it is not resilient like urethane and can be come a bit sloppy as it wears. I am surprised that everything is cross compatible with the cast Caliber 3 except the pivot.
@Skatebored - Washers in general are a good inexpensive tuning option. I normally run Cups in the back and Flats up front. The goal is to keep the rear stiffer than the front to keep the setup nimble yet stable!
